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Chapter 3Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Lily and the other students walked inside the Entrance Hall in a sober mood. Everyone seemed terribly shaken by the event on the train. When Lily was honest with herself, she found that she was afraid, too.
The huge marble staircase rose before them, and Lily turned to the right of them to enter the Grand Hall. Its magical ceiling mirrored the real sky above it, and the four long house tables were glittering with floating candles.
Lily glanced up at the teachers' table and saw all the Hogwarts teachers talking nervously amongst themselves. Lily saw Headmaster Dumbledore sitting in the center of the table with his fingers interlocked and his usually vibrant eyes were closed.
She joined her friends at the Gryffindor table, and waited anxiously for the new first years to arrive for the sorting ceremony.
The new students finally entered the hall looking apprehensive and frightened. Their little eyes were round with amazement as they took in the sights around them.
The Transfiguration teacher, vice-headmistress, and head of Gryffindor house, Professor Minerva McGonagall led the first years up to the teachers' table carrying a stool and the ragged sorting hat. She placed the hat on the stool and all eyes in the room focused on the tattered old hat.
A rip by the brim of the hat opened up like a mouth, and began to sing:
"Oh you may not think I'm pretty,
But don't judge by what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find,
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat,
And I can cap them all.
There's nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can't see,
So try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring nerve and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart.
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true,
And unafraid of toil.
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
If you've a ready mind.
Where those of wit and learning
Will always find their kind.
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folk use any means
To achieve their ends.
So try me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hands (though I have none)
For I'm a Thinking Cap!"
The entire hall burst into a gracious applause. Some of the first years looked even more confused, and others seemed to think this was some sort of joke. But McGonagall again approached the hat, and called up "Armstrong, Lena" to try on the Hat and be sorted first.
"Right. Okay, right then…" The Hat thought aloud. "Where to put you? Hm… What about HUFFLEPUFF!"
And so little Lena happily removed the Hat from her head, and hurried off to join her fellow Hufflepuffs. And so the sorting continued until "Ziggerman, Joshua" became a "RAVENCLAW!".
At this point, Dumbledore rose at the Head Table, and looked out fondly at his pupils. He didn't say anything at first, and the Hall rang with silence as each student focused on their Headmaster.
"I'm sure that you are all aware," Dumbledore began softly, "of the tragedy that occurred on the Hogwarts Express this evening." He paused and Lily gulped.
"I'm afraid that I am unable to tell you what happened, although I feel you all have the right to know." He said calmly. "All I can say is that the wizarding world is going through a huge shift, and precautions will be made to keep all Hogwarts students safe from harm. I must beg each of you to keep your heads down, and be aware of your surroundings. I am contemplating not allowing Quidditch to be played this year…" at this point in Dumbledore's speech, many outraged older students cursed beneath their breath. James and Sirius clenched their fists- they loved the fast paced game of Quidditch, and were easily the stars on the Gryffindor team.
"I know this sounds harsh and unreasonable now, but I'm sure you will all agree with me by the end of the semester.
"But for now, I see no point in ruining a delicious feast with all this danger-hullabaloo! So, we feast!" Dumbledore said, clapping his hands together as all sorts of foods sprouted magically up on the tables.
After all the golden plates had been licked clean and all the goblets of icy pumpkin juice had been drained, Lily reluctantly headed up to the Gryffindor dormitories. Disturbing thoughts continued to pulse through her brain, and she was unable to think of anything but the murder on the train.
How was it possible? Nothing like that had ever happened before. And what did Dumbledore mean when he said that the wizarding world was going through changes? What was going on?
Lily really wasn't sure, and she had no clue on how to find the answers to her questions.
She climbed into her four-poster bed, and closed the curtains. She pulled the fluffy covers up to her chin, and sighed. She tried to sleep, but a bright green light kept flashing across her brain like a neon sign. The skull and snake symbol crept into each of her dreams, causing her to wake up abruptly.
Finally she gave up on sleep and snuck down to the Gryffindor common room, pulling her robe over her nightdress. Surprisingly, she found Remus sitting on the couch gazing into the fire.
He jumped slightly when he saw her. "Oh, hello, Lily." He muttered.
"Mind if I join you?" She asked.
"Sure…" Remus replied stiffly. "I'm not very good company, right now, though." He sighed. "I just can't stop thinking about… the train thing."
"Me either." Lily confessed. "I've never known something to go wrong in our world." She said, shaking her head.
"It's odd, isn't it?" Remus said softly. "I mean, everything's going great, and then, suddenly, no one at Hogwarts feels safe."
"I'm sure it will pass…" Lily said, trying to comfort herself. "I mean, the Ministry will sort it all out… they always do."
But Remus just shook his head. "I don't think they will this time. Something tells me things are about to go horribly wrong."
"Geeze, Remus." Lily joked. "I'm really glad I talked to you! You've filled me with so much confidence!"
Remus laughed. "Well, I'm sorry! I just have a lot on my mind."
"Well, I'm willing to listen, if you feel like talking…"
"Nah- that's alright." Remus said. "I think I'll head back up to bed." He replied uncomfortably.
"Yeah, we've got a big day tomorrow: Classes!" Lily reminded.
"Yeah, classes." Remus said, rolling his eyes. "G'night."
"Night." Lily replied, turning to head up the girls' dormitory steps.